What did you read in January?

[Vespasia]

I think I put the right month this time!

What did you finish in January? Anything you would recommend? Any duds?

[dearprudence]

5* - emphatically recommended
- Poison for Breakfast
- How to Read NOW

4* - would recommend
- The Devil's Half Acre
- The Gender Games
- We Should All be Feminists
- Mistreated

3* - fine, but nothing special
- Braiding Sweetgrass

2* - would not recommend
- Hell of a Book

[tacokick]

Asleep From Day by Margarita Montimore (wtf)


Still Life by Louise Penny (the show is better but not bad)


Contemporary Weaving in Mixed Media by Rachna Garodia (excellent)


The Blackhouse by Carole Johnstone (highly enjoyable, fun setting)


Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton (frustrating)


Nothing Can Hurt You by Nicola Maye Goldberg (odd book but okay)


Token Black Girl: A Memoir by Danielle Prescod (I wish she got more into things about her parents, they really seemed to have failed her)


Disappeared by Bonnar Spring (great idea, not great book despite having lots I’d like–travel, drama, sisters, weaving!)


Spare by Prince Harry (he doesn’t seem terribly bright but is clearly more emotionally attuned then the rest of his family)


Keeping Two by Jordon Crane (blah)


Small World by Laura Zigman (I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected)


All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham (bad writing but I can see it as a show)


The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz (not what I expected but entertaining)


Uncle of the Year and Other Debatable Triumphs by Andrew Rannells (not great, I liked his earlier book a lot better)


Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs by Jamie Loftus (disappointing)


Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey (I liked it but it felt strangely long)


Prom Mom by Laura Lippman (didn’t love the end)


Mrs Caliban by Rachel Ingalls (okay, hit my goals of reading different genres and older books)


The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett (didn’t love the end)


How to Survive Everything by Ewan Morrison (gross)


The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes (interesting, different characters and premise)

[travella]

4* Good, would recommend to someone seeking historical fiction

The Gown by Jennifer Robson (4.5*- a slower character driven story).

The Girl from Guernica by Karen Robards (4.5*- has more action and is more fast paced than The Gown)

3*-Ok, but wouldn't recommend

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

The School for German Brides by Aimie K. Runyan (3.5*)

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor (3.5*)

1*/DNF
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

[mie]

I Give It a Year by Helen Whitaker 3*
With or Without You by Helen Warner 3*
The Stand-In by Lily Chu 3*
You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao 3*
The Shaadi Set-Up by Lillie Vale 3*

The Trouble With Love by Claire Contreras 2*
Trusting Hearts by Aria Bliss 2*
Tennessee Truths by Ashley Munoz 2*
Only Once by Ashley Munoz 2*
One Day in Summer by Shari Low 2*
The Man I Didn't Marry by Anna Bell 2*
Pieces of a Life by Jewel E Ann 2*
Memories of a Life by Jewel E Ann 2*
Stealing Home by Sherryl Woods 2*

Maestro by Auden Dar 1*
Forgiving History 1*

[Vespasia]

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell - 3*
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell - 4*
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo - 4.5*
How Long 'Til Black Future Month - 4*
Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire - 3.5*
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix - 4.5*

Haunted House was incredibly fun. I've read almost all of his books and this is one of the best.

Hell Bent was great in general but I really liked how it ended with a good setup for future books.

[CrazyLucky]

I read
Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman - 3* It was kind of slow and I didn't really like the writing style, but it was a good story.
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny - 3* I read this one based on some recommendations from last months thread, so I may have had expectations that were too high. I thought there were too many unanswered questions.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner - 3*
Three Girls From Bronzeville - 4* I worry that certain people would look at this story and be like, "See? Bootstraps! If one can make it, why can't the other two?" But in reality, anyone who thinks like that is probably not reading this book.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - 4* I know this is the October book, but I was on hold forever so when it came up, I grabbed it. It took me a while to warm up to it, but then I really liked it. I like how anti-stereotypical woman she was. Especially in regards to logic vs. emotion. Everything about her was based in logic.

[charlatti]

Two excellent 4.5 star books: In West Mills by De’Shawn Charles Winslow and Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

4* to The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton (probably more the timing of when I read it — I liked it a lot, but I think many readers liked it a lot more than I did)

3 meh stars to Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire, City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita, and Knife Creek by Paul Doiron

2 don’t bother stars to The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney and Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon

[Gato]

Liberation Day by George Saunders - excellent
It Ends with Us - Colleen Hoover - DNF
Sea of Tranquility - Emily St. John Mandel - lovely
I Came All This Way to Meet You - Jami Attenburg - insightful memoir, but a little repetitive
Our Missing Hearts - Celest Ng - I liked it more than Little Fires Everywhere. Flagged a little in the middle but touching ending

[ufcasey]

5 stars
Magic Tides (Kate Daniels series #10.5) by Ilona Andrews

4 stars
Spare by Prince Harry

3.5 stars
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
Revealed (#2 in series) by Vanessa Nelson
Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

3 stars
Dancing with Love by Minerva Spencer

2.5 stars
Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent

2 stars
Don't Believe by It Charlie Donlea

[mrspez07]

Audio:
Hundred Years of Lenni and Margo by Marianne Cronin 4*

Visual:
People we Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry 2*
Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger 3*
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein (started in Oct) 4*
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker 3*
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub 4*